Asghar Farhadi won Best Foreign Film for 'The Salesman' but did not attend

Iranian director Asghar Farhadi hit out at Donald Trump’s “inhumane” Muslim travel ban in the acceptance speech for Best Foreign Film at the Oscars.

Farhadi won the award for the movie The Salesman but didn’t attend in a boycott against Trump’s controversial policies.

In a speech read out on his behalf, Farhadi said: “It’s a great honor to be receiving this valuable award for the second time. I would like to thank the members of the Academy, my crew in Iran, my producer Alexandre Mallet-Guy, Cohen Media, Amazon and my fellow nominees in the foreign film category. I’m sorry I’m not with you tonight. My absence is out of respect for the people of my country and those of other six nations whom have been disrespected by the inhumane law that bans entry of immigrants to the U.S. Dividing the world into the us and our enemies categories creates fear. A deceitful justification for aggression and war. These wars prevent democracy and human rights in countries which have themselves been victims of aggression. Filmmakers can turn their cameras to capture shared human qualities and break stereotypes of various nationalities and religions. They create empathy between us and others. An empathy which we need today more than ever.”

Sharethrough (Mobile)

Moonlight actuallywon Best Picture on the night, but La La Land was initially, mistakenly announced as the winner.

The 89th Academy Awards were held at the Kodak Theatre in Los Angeles on Sunday night (February 26), with Jimmy Kimmel hosting.

La La Land won six awards on the night. Best Production Design was La La Land‘s first award of the evening, it later won Best Score, Best Original Song and Best Cinematography. It also triumphed in some of the major categories: La La Land director Damien Chazelle became the youngest filmmaker to win Best Director, while Emma Stone won Best Actress.

Mahershala Ali won the first award of the night, Best Supporting Actor for his part in Moonlight. Viola Davis won Best Supporting Actress for Fences. Meanwhile, Manchester By The Sea won Best Original Screenplay, while the film’s Casey Affleck picked up Best Actor.

Elsewhere, Suicide Squad won Best Make-Up, with the award dedicated to “all the immigrants”. Fantastic Beasts picked up Best Costume. OJ: Made In America won Best Documentary Feature. Best Sound Editing was won by Arrival, while Best Sound Mixing went to Hacksaw Ridge. Hacksaw Ridge also picked up Best Film Editing. Best Animated Short Film was won by Piper. Zootopia won Best Animated Feature Film. The Jungle Book won the Oscar for Best Visual Effects. The White Helmet won Best Documentary Short Subject.